Happy Birthday, Hubby!

 To the man who loves our girls enough to let them cover him in stickers in public.

 Who willingly turns into the girl's chauffeur or their car, as it were. 

I can't imagine doing life with anyone else. Thank you, George, for all you do. For the father you are. The husband you are. The friend you are. I love you. Our girls adore you. Happy birthday.

Wow

Wow! It was a crazy busy week and weekend last week. Anyone wonder if I could use the word "week" one more time in that sentence? I do!

This amazing lady came to visit last week. We ran around like crazy tourists for four days and HAD. A. BLAST.!!! I so need to tell you about this awesome woman. The sun shone the whole time she was here. We saw cool things. Ate great food. Slipped in some meaningful conversation. We took A TON of awesome pics of the girls, the scenery, etc. I am still sorting through it all.

Saturday was a 50's themed date day for Ralph and I. I can't wait to show you the pics of that and tell you about all we saw and did.

Then on Tuesday will be our next Craftivism event. I am so determined to get pictures this time!! Someone needs to remind me.

Sorry for the brief teaser post. I'm back to work this morning. Two weeks of "normal" then Ralph's parents come and we stop to play tourist at home again. Yay!

How Huge The Night

Thanks to Litfuse Group for providing this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I have always been fascinated with the WWII era, especially when I was a teenager. This is a youth book but one that I was able to enjoy as an adult. I think I would have truly enjoyed this book then as well as now. There are also universal struggles that all teenagers face. 

I love that the authors are very familiar with the people and area the book is set in. I feel like this is a fresh look at the era, events and tragedies of that period. I definitely recommend it. Enjoy but don't just take my word for it! Check out what others are saying.

About How Huge the Night:

Fifteen-year-old Julien Losier just wants to fit in. But after his family moves to a small village in central France in hopes of outrunning the Nazis, he is suddenly faced with bigger challenges than the taunting of local teens. Nina Krenkel left her country to obey her father's dying command: Take your brother and leave Austria. Burn your papers. Tell no one you are Jews. Alone and on the run, she arrives in Tanieux, France, dangerously ill and in despair.

Thrown together by the chaos of war, Julien begins to feel the terrible weight of the looming conflict and Nina fights to survive. As France falls to the Nazis, Julien struggles with doing what is right, even if it is not enough-and wonders whether or not he really can save Nina from almost certain death.

Based on the true story of the town of Le Chambon-the only French town honored by Israel for rescuing Jews from the Holocaust-How Huge the Night is a compelling, coming-of-age drama that will keep teens turning the pages as it teaches them about a fascinating period of history and inspires them to think more deeply about their everyday choices.

Link to buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/How-Huge-Night-Heather-Munn/dp/082543310X/ref=sprightly-20

About the Munn's:

 

Heather Munn was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in southern France where her parents were missionaries like their parents before them. She has a BA in literature from Wheaton College and now lives in a Christian intentional community in rural Illinois, where she and her husband, Paul, host free spiritual retreats for the poor, especially those transitioning out of homelessness or addiction. When not writing or hosting, she works on the communal farm. 

Lydia Munn, daughter of missionary parents, grew up in Brazil. She received a BA in literature from Wheaton College, and an MA in Bible from Columbia Graduate School of Bible and   Missions. With her husband, Jim, she has worked in church planting and Bible teaching since 1983, notably in St. Etienne, near the small town in the central mountains of France which forms the background of How Huge the Night. The Munns now live in Grenoble, France.

A Gorgeous Tea Party

I want to host a party like this! It is absolutely gorgeous. My poor husband. I am now going to start scouring thrift stores for that table cloth and teacups to make that clock. I'm never sure what to do with bird cages when I see them but I think I will be wanting to get one now. This just makes my heart happy. I have been wanting one of those coffee pots for a long time now. I know that my dish craze sometimes baffles my husband and best friend. Especially when they have to help wash not only the dishes we cook in but the ones we serve in too. I just can't help it. I want things to be pretty and useful. I put my girls in pretty dresses just to go outside and get dirty. Same difference if you ask me. Life is filled with ordinary things, let's use pretty things to make the ordinary special. It may create a little more work along the way but that's okay. Enjoy this eye candy!

 

 

Sent to you by Stacie@HobbitDoor via Google Reader:

 

 

Inspo Shoot: An Eclectic Tea Party

via :::: The Inspired Bride™ :::: by Maddy on 5/9/11

Today the power team of Tinywater Photography, Botanica Florals and Swanky & Sweet brings us an adorable set up that I think is great for a bridal shower! The mercury and lace are the perfect combination of textures to compliment the lovely antique patterns of the teacups peppered throughout the table design. Add in an aviary motif through decorative cages and vintage style bird accents, and you have a bit of eye candy that is quite timely as it begins to warm up here in the Northern Hemisphere!

Photography: Tinywater Photography
Floral Design and Styling: Botanica Floral Designs
Desserts: Swanky & Sweet

 

 

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It May Be Shorter But It's Still Cute!

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Sniff, Sniff

We started a new era at our house last night. Nugget had her first hair cut. I had been contemplating it for awhile. Put it off. Pretended it didn't really need it. Realized I just needed to bite the bullet.

I remembered a conversation with my BIL, Chad, shortly after she was born. He, having only had boys up to that point, asked me what you always ask the parent of a new boy: "When do you think you'll cut her hair?" I just stared at him and said, "Never?"

Fast forward 2.5 years, her hair is getting long but there are quite a few split ends.

This was very difficult--and I'm not just talking emotionally here. She had a tendancy to turn her head right as I was snipping, Zita would come up and reach up, she would sneeze, etc. It was something else. It ended up shorter than I was hoping for but I think it looks thicker and better.

I'm still a bit teary about the whole thing, though. She's growing up and I'm not ready for it.

Precious Times

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Love this Sticky Face

This little pumpkin just LOVES her some homemade bread! Especially if it has jelly on it. Just makes you want to squish her, doesn't it?! This, by the way, is how she says "all done." She refuses to use the sign but will lean to the side like this. So cute, who can resist? We now have her saying "please" with sign language--that was a HUGE challenge but worth it. I think we need another look at this cute little mess, don't you? Yup, it's true.

Mother's Day 2011

Ralph did such an amazing job of making this a very special day for me. I think it felt especially meaningful for me this year as last year we were separated. Ralph and I were here with Zita and Nugget was with my parents in MN. We were with old/new friends and Nugget was with family but it was much better this year.

Saturday Ralph made us a wonderful breakfast of strawberry crepes.

Sunday brought homemade cinnamon rolls, homemade cards from the girls and The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. We had a leisurely breakfast and headed to church as a family. I had a blast from the past, as all the mom's got carnations. I remember stuff like that happening as a kid. It was fun to be one of the moms that got one. Nugget made me a paper flower in her Sunday School class. It was very fun.

Best pic we could get of the girls and I

We headed to lunch--Mexican, one of my favorites. We had a Groupon for a place we'd been wanting to try and today seemed like the perfect occasion. Frida's Mexican Restaraunt was fantastic! We would definitely go again. The food was super yummy. They had super spicy, super yummy salsa and then two other dips that came out with the chips and salsa.

Ralph's Burrito Fajita

My Sopes

The girls had quesadillas and their children's plates were just as pretty as ours. So fun!

Then came the best part of the day--we all came home and took naps. All 4 of us. At. The. Same. Time. Unheard of! It did require a bit of creativity as Nugget was very tired and a bit hysterical but what is a holiday without family drama? *wink, wink*

After our rest time, we were able to Skype (with some technical difficulties) both sets of parents. It was a very restful and meaningful day. I would love to hear how the rest of you celebrated!

While I was so grateful to have this restful and meaningful day, my heart did hurt for some people I know personally and some just via bloggy-land whose days were not so restful. A couple of my friends are experiencing their first mother's day without their moms. One is facing her own battle with cancer. I also know of a few mom's who are missing their own precious babies. And, last but not least, I have a few friends who are longing to be moms but are not. Some have not yet been able to conceive and some have not found spouses when I know they long to be married with their own families. I prayed for you today, Friends, and all your various struggles. It is not much but your struggles were mentioned by name to the King of Kings today. Love you all. 

Date Night

Once again, The Loving Wives Club, provided some fun ideas for romancing my husband this month. The theme this month was a French one. That presented a small problem of where to take him for dinner as French is not a favorite genre for either of us.

We started out our "date day" making scrambled eggs and French toast for breakfast. We used up some chopped green peppers from our dinner the night before, ham from Easter and the rest of the cheddar cheese for the girls eggs. That left Parmesan or Romano cheese for our eggs. We went with Parmesan and I have no idea why we don't do that every time! They were so good! Our French toast recipe is the one I was raised with from Better Homes and Gardens. We've really not been able to top it. Our preferred bread is Challah, it really just makes it over the top yummy. We had regular bread this time which was fine but if I had been thinking I would have snagged some Challah to make the day extra special.

I'm starting to figure out how to time traffic into our dates. We had the babysitter come at 4 and had dinner reservations for 5:30 down in Seattle. We were able to get down there with about 40 minutes to spare, time to walk around the neighborhood and check out some shops. We found a record, models and old toy store. It had tons of old records. Ralph found quite a few that brought back fun memories. I even found one--Agapeland!

We had time to briefly peruse Ravenna Third Place Books. In fact, we were almost late for our reservation because we both can get lost in book stores. This one was a fun mix of new and used books. I think we will be going back some time soon. We also drove past several fun looking thrift stores that I will be wanting to go back and check out.

Ralph's "Blame it on Rio"

For dinner, we went to the Crepe Cafe and Wine Bar. It was such a cute little restaurant. The staff was so friendly as were the other patrons! The food was so yummy!

Our yummy appetizer

My Mushroom Medley

Last, but not least, our Chocolate in My Peanut Butter

Ralph's Vat of Mocha at The Lyon's Den

After dinner, we headed up to Bothell to do something we really haven't had a chance to do since moving here. We went to a coffee shop to hear live music! It was so fun. This was Ralph's first time at The Lyon's Den coffee shoppe. I had met a friend there for coffee once. Some friends from church were there backing up  Maile, a local artist. It was so fun! I must say, we tend to enjoy the music more when we know the artist.

My pretty breve

We had such a fun evening. It was nice to get out. I must admit I frequently thinking about my girls. I even  heard a small one crying at the book store who sounded (to me) just like Zita. It kinda threw me for a bit. These nights out are refreshing and good for our marriage but can be hard on a momma's heart. Hope you all had a great weekend and are having a great week!